Chapter Twelve

Trudy looked around at the gathering of friends and family and felt a little shiver of happiness in her heart. 

When Ward had brought her home in the wee hours of the morning on New Year’s Day, after the wonderful event at the community center, he’d told her to be ready to go pick out rings the next day.

Sure enough, he’d shown up first thing in the morning, to whisk his bride-to-be into town. 

Valerie Leighton was honored to help them select two simple, elegant bands. 

And though Trudy insisted their engagement would be too short for another ring, Ward put his foot down. They left with an opal on an antique band so pretty that it made her cry when he knelt right there in town to ask her permission to put it on her finger.

Their very next stop was the county courthouse to apply for a marriage license. 

And all the days since then had been happy ones, full of plans for their small wedding at the Inn, followed by this amazing party. 

Though much of the Williams family was right here in Trinity Falls, the Sullivan clan had to be gathered from all over Pennsylvania. And then there were all their friends and neighbors. 

Everyone wanted to help. Alice Cassidy had her crew take care of cooking duty. Mallory, who owned the little bakery in town, was made the wedding cake. And the Williams cousins and their kids had been all over the inn hanging boughs of evergreens and baby’s breath. 

She hadn’t realized just how much she missed her family until they were all together like that, and she vowed to make more time to spend with them. 

Ward’s son, Will, had arrived yesterday, just in time to be his father’s best man. 

Alice Cassidy served as the matron of honor, looking lovely in her green dress while her husband eyed her flirtatiously from the front row. 

Though the wedding had been simple, the pastor told Trudy it was one of the most beautiful he had ever officiated. There hadn’t been a dry eye in the house, and Trudy herself had cried like a child when Ward slipped the ring on her finger, his steely blue eyes wet with unshed tears.

There was just something about weddings…

Now everyone was spread out all over the house, eating plates of delicious, home-cooked food and enjoying each other’s company. 

Trudy floated between rooms, finding it difficult not to play innkeeper. Three of her nephews had promised her they wouldn’t let anyone’s lemonade glass go empty, and she knew she could just relax, but old habits died hard. 

Everywhere she and Ward went, they were pulled into hugs and joyful congratulations. 

As the sun began to set, casting the snowy fields around the inn a shimmering pink, Trudy realized she needed a breath. 

She managed to slip out onto the sunporch without anyone noticing. 

It was cold as an icebox, but refreshing to her flushed cheeks, and the quiet felt good after a day of so much excitement. 

She looked out over the grounds of the inn, and then closed her eyes, trying to hear Philip’s voice one more time. 

I will always love you, she told him inwardly. You are a part of me, and that will never change.

She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she was certain she felt something, a warmth in the cold. And when she opened her eyes, there was a last burst of fiery beauty as the sun finished setting outside, that told her he was with her, that he was proud of her. 

The door clicked, and she turned to find Ward there, his blue eyes taking her in as if he couldn’t believe she was real. She knew the look, because it was the same one she’d been giving him almost every day. 

“Are you talking with Phil?” he asked softly. “I can go.”

“Don’t go,” she told him, shaking her head, tears of gratitude prickling her eyes as she held her arms out.

He closed the door carefully, then pulled her close. 

“You don’t ever have to stop talking with him,” Ward whispered into her hair. “Not on my account.”

“You’re not jealous?” she whispered. 

“I might be a little jealous,” he chuckled. “But mostly, I’m just grateful. I’m grateful to be with you. And I’m grateful to Phil for giving you a happy life. Frankly, I’m grateful for everything that happened to lead us to each other, Trudy.”

Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she leaned back against his chest, looking at the holiday lights twinkling out on the lawn. 

“I could never take his place in your heart, and I’ll never try,” he told her. “I just hope you have room in your heart for both of us.”

“I do,” she promised him for the second time that day. 

She turned in his arms to face him. 

“Trudy, I think you have enough love wrap up the whole world in your beautiful heart,” Ward teased, cupping her cheek in his hand as if she were the most precious thing. “I’m just glad I married you quick, before someone else came along and swept you off your feet.”

She laughed.

“Don’t laugh at me, woman,” he teased. “I’ll sweep you off your feet right now.”

“You wouldn’t,” Trudy said, her eyes widening. 

But he was already lifting her up in his strong arms like she was light as a feather. 

“Ward,” she squeaked. 

He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers and she closed her eyes, enjoying the sweet sense of being at home.

“I’ve got half a mind to carry you straight upstairs,” he growled, pulling away. “But I know this family of ours wants cake. So I’m going to put you back down for now. But you can expect to be swept off your feet again when we have this place to ourselves.”

“It’s a date,” Trudy laughed as her feet hit the floor once more. “Let’s go eat cake.”

He opened the door for her, releasing the sounds of happy voices and the strains of a piano playing in the library. 

She smiled and stepped back into the liveliness of her beloved inn, and the people who made it special by being there. 

When Ward wrapped his hand around hers and gave it a squeeze, she felt a soul-deep gratitude, that of all the wonderful people here, he was hers and she was his.

She sucked in a breath, afraid she was going to start crying again.

But when Ward looked over his shoulder and winked at her, his twinkly blue eyes alight with joy, she laughed instead. 
​
This was happiness. And it was only the beginning.

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